Where Are the Prophets?
Prelude: I am re-posting this essay from September 2007 for consideration. It appears likely that Barack Obama will be our next President and there is even a possibility that the Senate will gain a filibuster proof majority to go along with greater gains in the House. Will Progressive Christians hold the Democratically controlled federal government to the highest standards of Justice, Mercy and Humility or will the Christian voice continue to be a partisan tool complicit in corruption, only from the Left?
Gary
I’ve been wondering lately, where are the prophets? Are there any real prophets cut from the same cloth of an Elijah who confounded the evil King Ahab or a John the Baptist who called out the sins of Herod? Are there any among the fundamentally conservative or the progressively liberal wings of Christianity who are willing to break political ranks and speak truth to power?
Solutions to complex issues like war, poverty, healthcare and environmental deterioration will require greater vision than what is currently possessed by those in power and those seeking to replace them. Our nation stands in great need of the truly prophetic.
The populace of American Christianity is generally polarized along the same fault lines as the two political parties who seek to gain the blessing and endorsement of the faithful. Tepid partisan clergy ranging from conservative to liberal on the theological spectrum has generally displaced the prophetic mantle in the public forums of our time.
Much of the upper tier conservative clerics still offer their carte blanche blessings to a political party and president whose values and policies have grossly distorted the Christian image to the rest of the world. The progressive wing of Christianity offers a similar endorsement of the entire platform of the other party. Where is the prophet like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who fearlessly advocated against war and for social justice in the face of both Republican and Democratic leaders and the Church?
I have a question for those recognized as prophets by the theological left and right. Are there points on the platform of your chosen political party that falls short of mercy and justice? If so, then please show some genuine prophetic authenticity and offer divine public correction to these issues. You could help change the errant course we travel as a nation. Our national leaders on the left and right apparently possess no map and have lost their compass. They desperately need prophetic help in the realms of vision and accountability. They do not need your blanket endorsements.
Many conservative and liberal clerics alike have become nothing more than pathetic lap dogs for the two political parties and the special interests they represent. Citizens entering voting booths must make their choices based on their individual conscience, but how can true prophets publicly endorse a single political party when both are corrupt?
Shouldn’t the prophetic office serve as a watchdog of the Church and the State? Prophets point out injustice and speak uncomfortable truth to those in authority regardless of their political party or church affiliation. Their function in society is not bound solely by the parameters of religion. Their authority to rebuke and bring correction historically extends into every social dimension where justice is lacking and mercy is needed.
Where is there a clear prophetic voice rising from the American societal landscape today? Where is the group or individual who dares to expose the injustice committed in our name by our government regardless of who is in power? Why do the preachers of the left and right only rebuke those leaders of the opposite party and never their own? Where is the prophet who is bold enough to confront the harlotry of the Church as she runs recklessly into the seductive arms of corrupt and conscienceless political suitors?
It is a terrible and costly compromise when preachers and prophets offer their endorsement of any party or candidate who is not willing to work legislatively for mercy and justice on every front. It is an even greater compromise when they dare not speak needed confrontational truth to those whom they have endorsed. The fear of losing their privileged place at the trough with the other lobbyists tragically enforces their silence.
Much study and editorializing has been done regarding the influence of fundamental Christianity in the outcome of the 2002 and 2004 elections. Although conservative Christian voters seemed pivotal in the elections, their actual impact in public policy was minimal. Four years of total Republican control of the White House and Congress delivered little that represents the values and concerns of the conservative Christians who endorsed them. Two Supreme Court appointments are the only real solace for the believers who supported this president and his subservient Congress.
Much work is being done among progressive Christians to counter that electoral influence. The 2006 elections show the pendulum of political control is swinging away from Republicans and continues to favor the Democrats in 2008. Will moderate and more liberal Church leaders be willing to speak truth to power when they are the ones being allowed through the turnstiles of the White House and the Congress?
The current influence of the polarized Church is apparently no greater than any other minor special interest group finding identity and nominal representation in the political parties of today. It will always be so as long as the church world allows itself to be exploited and fragmented by the strategists of the two political parties.
A united Church could actually become a powerful purveyor of good in the realm of public policy. This could happen if the conservative and the progressive wings decided to coalesce around a broader spectrum of justice related issues. They could collectively influence both parties to design public policy more reflective of judicious mercy. Is such a thing possible?
God help us. Where are the prophets?
- Gary Vance's blog
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A True Christian Coalition?
I like the thought of offering pure critique unsullied by party affiliation (and until the Greens gain power, I'm safely unsullied). There should be issues that we as Christians can agree on. The problem will be in agreeing to appropriate actions, or regrettably even to definitions. Take the most divisive topic first; the protection of life. Only the Catholics present a consistent ethic of life opposing its destruction in the womb, on the battlefield and in the executioner's chair. Progressives need to find a way to address abortion that affirms that we want there to be none. We've taken this up elsewhere (i.e. the fact that poverty is a huge factor and that repealing Roe v. Wade only returns it to the states)so I won't argue a point here aside from the idea that this is an area for prophetic attention.
I also would think that ending poverty domestically and globally would be something all Christians could rally behind, but as my conservative Christians rage currently about Obama's alleged socialism (like that's a bad thing) I'm not so sure that even here we can work together. I read a blog comment from a conservative Christian saying "who would Jesus steal from"? If Christians see taxes as the government stealing their money, then we must raise a prophetic voice reminding all that it all belongs to God and that God wants it "spread around." So maybe our economic white paper needs to have a prophet's bite.
I promise that I will not hesitate to dog an Obama administration, for I fear that it won't bring the troops home as quickly as we should, nor will it see beyond the middle class to the huge numbers of economically distressed quickly enough either. In our major cities the number of people spending more than 30% of their income on housing is approaching 30% If we are listening to the gospel charge then we know that we need to do something.
Church and Politics
Gary I am drooling over the prospect of an Obama Presidency and a filibuster proof Senate but I am a little nervous. I don’t think the Republicans can tweak and fake enough state elections to fix this election but we won’t know until November 4th.
I don’t think we are going to see total church unity on going after issues dear to people of faith’s heart, but we are going to see some unity and a strong faith based voice. The hard core “Far Right Fundamentalists”, and I use that terminology for lack of a better way to put it, led by such characters as Pat Robertson and James Dobson, are not going to go with the program. They will be fear based, and their two big issues will of course, be abortion and Gays. Characters like Robertson seem to being losing influence though and voices like that of Jim Wallis and Rick Warren seem to be rising.
I am hopeful that a large coalition of people from the emerging church,which includes many Evangelicals,Evangelicals that have always had a social conscience, including the African American church, liberal or progressive Christians, and people from other faiths, can influence public policy and the direction of our nation.
The opportunities with an Obama Presidency and a large Democratic majority are enormous. I think the people of faith and conscience will be there. The big question is, will the Democrats be there for us? I say that as a party member, County Co-Chair, and Obama organizer. I completely understand that the Democratic Party needs to be remade and reshaped too. Most of them, especially in the Senate, are just as bought and sold as the Republicans. Obama started off very progressive; he owes the corporate world now too. Corporations have contributed enormous sums of money to his campaign as it became apparent that he might be the winner. We shall certainly see.